The World Resources Institute is working to develop a protocol for measuring global food waste. According to its press release, the protocol will help create "clear measurements and indicators" that can be used to develop tools to reduce food waste. Organizations involved in developing the protocol include Global Green Growth Forum, UN Environment Programme, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Waste & Resources Action Network and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN.

The Protocol will provide guidance on multiple aspects of measuring food loss and waste. These include definitions, boundaries of what to measure, appropriate data sources and quantification methods, and how to evaluate tradeoffs between accuracy, completeness, relevance, and cost. By creating a global standard, the Protocol will ensure international consistency, enable comparability, and facilitate transparency by users. By using the Protocol, countries and companies will be able to identify how much and where food is being lost and wasted.

With tons of food going to waste while millions go hungry, efforts to measure the waste and find solutions are admirable.

"The absurd reality that one third of all the food we produce is lost or wasted each year has significant impacts on people and the planet," said Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director. "Wasting and losing 1.3 billion tonnes of food annually is clearly an ethical issue given that 870 million people go hungry every day, not to mention the 3.3 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases this waste adds to the planet’s atmosphere."